Malta has again scored full points in the annual EU bathing water quality report based on data of the previous summer season.
Together with Cyprus, Malta has been classified as having the best water quality at its beaches among the 28 EU member states in 2016, faring slightly better than Greece and Austria.
The report is based on a number of criteria, including the weekly testing of water samples from the most popular bathing areas.
In the case of Malta, samples are taken from 87 locations around the islands.
According to the data published by the European Commission yesterday, in five countries, 95 per cent or more bathing waters were assessed as being of ‘excellent’ quality.
These were Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Greece and Austria.
Also, last year, only 1.5 per cent of bathing water sites were rated as having poor water quality in the EU.
The highest number of bathing sites with poor quality were found in Italy (1.8 per cent), France (2.4 per cent) and Spain (1.8 per cent).
The major sources of pollution are sewage and water draining from farms and farmland.
All EU member states are obliged to monitor their bathing sites according to the provisions of the EU’s revised Bathing Water Directive.
The legislation specifies that bathing water has to be classified in various grades according to the levels of faecal bacteria detected.